Addressing Jail & Community Violence - More Than a Policing Problem
Bill Teel
Jail commanders, the nation needs our help. The nation needs us to help the fight against violence in our communities, which at times is a direct reflection of what is occurring within our jails. So, what am I talking about and how do we contribute to this effort?
Combating violence requires jail commanders to be an integral part of an interdisciplinary team and work together on targeted interventions involving violent offenders with the objective of curbing future violence and making our communities safer. Nobody is going to knock on our doors to suggest we can be the difference makers. We must play a more proactive role and not wait to be invited to the table to become a part of the discussion. As leadership within our American jails, we have an opportunity to be a part of the intervention solution, side by side with our law enforcement partners and many other stakeholders, each having an equally important role.
According to Psychology Today, “Homicide rates fluctuate seasonally with higher rates in the warmer months, and with the relaxed social distancing measures in place throughout 2021, normal activity patterns resumed, thereby creating additional opportunities for crime, including crimes of violence.” These included crimes involving intimate partners and aggravated assaults. (Pittaro, 2022). Although it’s purely an approximation, according to the World Health Organization, the cost of violence in America correlates to billions of US dollars annually, which includes health care costs, legal fees, custody fees, and the cost for law enforcement resources. So, ask yourself the question, how much does violence cost your agency and ultimately the tax payer?
Although it’s not a cost that’s based on “violent” crimes alone, the daily cost to house an inmate at the Clark County Detention Center (CCDC), in Las Vegas,
Nevada is $240 per day. And at the time of developing this article, our population included approximately 2900 inmates and of those in custody there were 403 murder charges, 353 rape charges, 677 aggravated assault charges, and 301 other assault type charges, to just name a few of the violent charges our inmates are in-custody for. Many of these inmates have similar histories: Drug abuse, mental illness, some have experienced suicidal ideations and this pattern began years ago. Of course, CCDC is not unique, every jail across the country has a very similar make-up of those in custody. There’s no more significant time than now for both the enforcement side and the custody side of a police department to work together, along with other stakeholders, in solving problems that will promote greater all-around safety.
“To be the safest community in America”, is the vision of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD), and is a vision I believe all law enforcement agencies strive for and all communities are wanting to have. “To be the safest jail in America”, is the vision of the Detention Services Division within the LVMPD and a vision I believe that our correctional staff, the community we support and anyone entering the local criminal justice system should expect. So, as police agencies, how do we accomplish these visions? My conviction is that to make either of these visions a reality, all disciplines within a law enforcement agency, key resources within the county and state, and some of our private community partners must have ownership and serve active roles within a multi-disciplinary team and be the stakeholders at the table to discuss strategies, tactics, and outcomes. It can’t be stressed enough that both police and
detention need to recognize how important each other’s roles are in supporting positive outcomes relating to a safer community and jail.
In addition to satisfying a department’s vision(s) for a safer community and jail, having a multi-disciplinary team with a purpose that contributes to a safer jail environment, can also reduce a jail’s risks and liabilities. This is accomplished by focusing on those most at risk for violence and suicide. Violence is on the rise across the nation and is well publicized, and on top of this, suicide continues to be the leading cause of death in jails, which is also a type of violence.
As indicated from insights provided by a studying assembly of correctional authorities for the RAND Corporation and the University of Denver, reducing inmate mortality within jails and prisons is obtainable, “through organizational change supporting emphasis on care objectives equal to the emphasis on custody and control objectives, adherence to best practices and adequate resources to provide quality care to individuals before, during and after incarceration” (Russo, 2019). This literature is suggesting that positive outcomes in reducing jail deaths are possible through a concentrated effort of creating best practice goals within the organization’s strategic plan to include enhancing resources focused on the effort. By excelling in communication, innovation and when appropriate, use of technology, we can develop “best practices”. This approach can also contribute to a strategic reduction of crime and “Project SAFE” can be the model for all jails and police departments to use as the model for positive change.
Project SAFE is aimed at demonstrating how a multi-discipline team (MDT), with various stakeholders, roles and responsibilities can be an active part of the problem solving that contributes towards both jail and community safety. This article is intended to provide the following: a sense of urgency for police and corrections leadership in all jurisdictions to actively work together and problem solve in order to manage populations of inmates who create risks for both the jail and the community; an overview on what the SAFE project is; define the roles & responsibilities that make up the SAFE Multi-Discipline Team (SMDT); explain the discharge planning process & significance of community partners involved as well as address the importance of case management.
Sense of urgency—The Problem:
“More and more people with mental illness are coming into contact with the criminal justice system, straining law enforcement resources and placing exceptional demands on our jails and prisons” (Sullivan 2020). On the average, the Clark County Detention Center (CCDC), has approximately 28—32% of its inmate population that take prescribed psychotropic medication. Those that suffer from mental illness and require a focused engagement fluctuate with each new day’s worth of bookings and releases. Some of these individuals are involved in critical events in the field and are well known by our Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) within the LVMPD’s Office of Community Engagement. CIT officers are routinely called on to respond to scenes involving those who’ve committed a criminal act and/or are presenting as though they have a mental illness or have co-occurring issues (mental illness and substance abuse addictions). At times, these same individuals have demonstrated a propensity for violence, were suicidal, and suffered from substance abuse disorder, or sometimes exhibited all these issues, which created a threat to the community and this threat carried over into the jail.
Having awareness of these individuals that were booked into the facility is vital information for corrections staff members as well as medical and mental health staff, so the entire team can take appropriate precautions, mitigate risks and liabilities, and keep everyone safe to include the individual suffering and needing a committed engagement from various resources within the facility. This engagement process includes our classification section who conduct an assessment and review process to determine appropriate housing, which includes collaboration with the medical and mental health providers, which is vitally important. These combined steps taken at the time of booking establish the early stages of the SMDT communication chain.
Now let’s talk about the significance of having this level of information sharing and how it relates to supporting our visions for a safer jail and community. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, “Suicides remained the single leading cause of death in local jails in 2018, accounting for almost 30% of deaths” (Carson, 2021). Approximately 67% of suicide deaths in jails occurred in General population (46.3%) and segregation (20.6%) (2021, p.16). This data dramatically suggests that our nation’s jails have a lot of work to do to reverse the course of this trend and take a more proactive approach towards intervention and prevention. Jails can incorporate more progressive and non-traditional steps at addressing the needs of those who are suicidal with awareness and information sharing from our first responders at the time of arrest, and back to them at the time of release.
Changing this epidemic will require jail commanders to be championed with an inspired “shared” vision and supported by non-traditional approaches aimed at driving positive results to lowering suicides. And consider this; if we can address a suicidal person’s needs as soon as the time of booking and then intensively case manage them, we can release them back to the community more stabilized than they were before, thus creating a safer jail and safer community. This satisfies the vision and proves the SAFE concept!
Project SAFE/SAFE Multi-Discipline Team (SMDT) Roles & Responsibilities—A Solution:
Project SAFE is: Safe Alternatives Focused on Engagement. Except for intercept 5 of the Sequential Intercept Model—Community Corrections, (due to Clark County, Nevada not having a county parole or probation system), SAFE is the model that ties all intercepts of the model together through a multi-disciplinary team. The SMDT meets weekly at the Clark County Detention Center (CCDC), where representation from all the different areas of responsibility meet to discuss those who create the greatest risk and liability for the community and for us as a law enforcement agency.
As with any team, The SMDT requires a variety of roles with diverse areas of expertise and responsibilities all focused on accomplishing a common mission. The following is a breakdown of all the different disciplines that make up our SMDT. All of the following SMDT members participate in our weekly SAFE meeting where we discuss those creating the most risk and liability, which include those that have demonstrated a propensity for violence and/or being suicidal in the jail and/or in the community:
Police:
• Dedicated CIT Officers assigned to the LVMPD’s Office of Community Engagement.
These officers read every crisis intervention after action report as the result of a police encounter, so they can filter through the details and zone in on those who demonstrated a propensity for violence and/or were suicidal. Once they find those meeting this criterion, they begin the communication process by sending an email to all the other SMDT stakeholders. This email provides details of the event, which then triggers the need for CIT to be contacted in the event the person is released from custody. The information also prompts Classification staff along with medical and mental health to make a closer assessment. These dedicated CIT Officers also act as the communication conduit between other SMDT members and the area command where the person lives within.
Corrections:
• Administrative leadership, with administrative oversight of medical and mental health operations and restrictive / administrative segregated housing.
• Shift Lieutenant who oversees restrictive and administrative segregation housing, so they can provide feedback and/or support and direction to their team for decisions being made.
• Classification Sergeant or above who can provide classification screening information and historical perspectives concerning housing or institutional behavior.
• Medical and Mental Health Liaison Officers provide knowledge and experiences regarding how the inmate(s) in question are behaving.
• Supervisory staff from our Classification Section who speak to appropriate housing and any institutional concerns involving those being discussed.
• Manager representation from the LVMPD Records Court Services Section who address any questions about where the individual is in the judicial process and whether they qualify for an alternative to incarceration.
• Detention Records/Court Services provides court information on those listed as “persons of interest”, and act as liaisons with the courts.
Medical/Mental Health:
• Representation from our medical and mental health teams who discuss the most critical inmates on their caseloads and level of care being given as well as contribute with proposals for behavior modification planning and education for staff when appropriate.
Courts:
• Representation from specialty courts who can help provide additional information on those who are on the mental health court caseload.
Legal Counsel:
• Our legal representation ensures that any medical or mental health concerns requiring an intervention beyond an emergency order is considered and affidavits are created that provide enough justification to present in court.
Clark County Social Services:
• The intention is to have social service resources in place to assist with discharge planning efforts, to include conducting needs assessments and status checks of these individuals once released back into the community. These resources will be key to the SAFE case management oversight needs. It will be the data collected through case management and entered within an approved information system that will help identify what is and is not working within the SAFE program.
When available, in addition to the roles mentioned above, having a dedicated officer to the SMDT serve as the “SAFE” Officer, is a significant addition to the team within the jail and allows for the internal case management process to be possible. This officer answers to the administrative leadership and acts as the conduit between all internal and external stakeholders and is intimately familiar with all the details concerning people on the SMDT caseload. The SAFE Officer will remain centered and focused on any concerns that require immediate engagement from others within the SMDT or need to be addressed during the weekly meeting(s).
The SAFE Officer is also key for remaining in contact with module officers where these “persons of interest” are housed. These module officers are the boots on the ground that generally are the first to identify any signs of inmates being in distress and can communicate this to the appropriate person(s), including the dedicated SAFE Officer. The SAFE Officer is key due to their ability of being able to communicate with their peers and remove unnecessary obstacles that sometimes prevent or reduce the ability of our mental health team from interacting with the inmate(s) allowing for a more timely and thorough assessment. The SAFE Officer will be a certified Crisis Intervention Officer and have special training to help interacting with and case managing a difficult population. These officers will routinely move through the facility(s) checking in on the status of these individuals, updating their case notes, and ensuring any observations that are concerning and can’t wait for the next scheduled Restrictive Housing meeting. This information will be communicated to others on the SMDT as timely as possible.
Each week, members of the SMDT are prepared to discuss those creating the greatest risk and liability for the
organization and community. The SMDT focuses on communication regarding any concerns of those “persons of interest” within the facility and/or hospital, which includes what their status update is medically, mentally, and where each person is positioned within the judicial process. When appropriate, the SMDT also discusses discharge planning and community case management in preparation for individuals that are due to be released.
Discharge Planning:
An effective discharge planning effort is probably the most significant component for positive outcomes and keeping the individual and community safe. An appropriate, well-rounded plan includes a continuation of care outcome with prescribed medication(s) and coordinated hand-offs for in-patient or out-patient care needs with dedicated partners. Positive discharge planning outcomes include the engagement of dedicated private entities within the community capable of working with clientele that require co-occurring needs to include mental health and substance abuse. “Vulnerable populations have risk factors for violence and self-harm, but in a more circuitous way than individuals who overtly report suicidal ideations and display violence at the time of discharge”. (J. Arabski, personal communication, February 22, 2022).
Bridging the reentry gap of the most vulnerable requires an extension of the SMDT to include committed community resource partners. To generate the greatest success and ensure the highest probability of positive outcomes, these partners need to work with the SMDT as soon as the team knows that a release is imminent. As a part of SAFE’s approach, our community partners will meet with these “persons of interest” as soon as possible, prior to release, so next steps can be discussed with the client. This allows for the community partner to establish a relationship with the patient, ensure medication and continuation of care needs are known and allows for our partners to have the opportunity to case review with medical and mental health professionals. When at all possible, having family be a part of this process is most beneficial for their loved one and significantly increases the probability of success.
Case Management:
As part of our weekly meeting, members from the Office of Community Engagement review all their “persons of
interests”, which has evolved into our SMDT caseload. This caseload is growing and includes those who were involved in a critical event such as a barricade, SWAT response, officer involved shooting, and/or demonstrated a propensity for violence and/or were suicidal. Representatives within this multi-disciplinary team provide status reports regarding each person’s institutional behavior and both their progress or setbacks and how they’re being managed by medical and mental health. Court Services also provides an update as to what the status is of each person within the judicial process. Through February of this year, the SMDT began an analysis of those on their caseload within the jail. At the time of generating analytical data for this paper, the SMDT had 73 “persons of interest”. Of this 73, 69 demonstrated a propensity for violence, 22 were suicidal and 18 of the 22 were also violent at the time of arrest.
It can’t be overstated enough that as a collective group, communication is the key difference maker of the SMDT case management process, so everyone can weigh in on care and management needs to include taking discharge planning steps and actively participating in reducing opportunities for the individual to re-offend and/or self-harm. Everyone works together researching information to include our mental health team using the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), which gives us read only access to potential key information that helps with our case management efforts.
Prior to creating the SMDT and managing a caseload, these individuals would be booked into jail, with nobody having much of any awareness of what occurred with these people in the field. This resulted in the propensity for violence and suicidal behavior continuing after being booked, which increased recidivism, risks, liability, and decreased officer safety and the health and wellbeing of the individual. The study has allowed us to recognize a key understanding that what impacts the enforcement side regarding risks also has a significant impact on everyone within the detention side of the operation.
It’s significant to repeat that many of these individuals (69) were taken into custody after committing violent crimes or creating risks of harm to themselves or others. These individuals also compromised the safety of the community and responding officers due to either barricading themselves or resisting being taken into custody and required escalating levels of force to be used, including the introduction of deadly force in several instances. The SAFE project’s focus is case managing these “persons of interest”, who’ve been identified as having a propensity for violence and/or have demonstrated signs or symptoms of being suicidal. Intensive case management of this population is significant for everyone’s safety from the very beginning of the information sharing process and continues until the time of release. The additional value of beginning each person’s case management in the jail is to work towards determining what their needs are to help stabilize them through programming, medication and/or counseling, and group therapy, which becomes the beginning stages towards piecing together an individualized discharge plan. Through quick and effective inter-department communication, inmates with propensity for violence or possible mental health issues, to include suicide ideology, are identified and brought to the attention of those who can communicate their history, assess their treatment needs, and provide resources to set them up for success.
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Captain Bill Teel (Ret.) recently retired from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department after 24 years of service. Bill has a degree in Business Management and Graduate Degree in Leadership. Bill attended the Jail Executive Class #1 and the National Jail Leadership Command Academy Class #14. Bill’s consults for the National Commission on Correctional Health Care and businesses within the jail industry who are focused on raising the standard for the American Jail. For more information, he can reached at billteel@yahoo.com.
References
Carson, E. A. (2021). Mortality in Local Jails, 2000-2018—Statistical Tables. U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics. https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/mortality- localjails20002018statisticaltables#:~:text=The%20number%20of%20deaths%20in%20local%20jails%20due,population%20%28322%20deaths%20per%20100%2C000%20adult%20U.S.%20residents%29.
Carson, E. A. (2021). Mortality in Local Jails, 2000-2018—Statistical Tables. U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Statistics. Death location of local jail inmates, by cause of death, 2000-2018, p 16. https://bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/mortality-local-jails-2000-2018-statistical-tables#:~:text=The%20number%20of%20deaths%20in%20local%20jails%20due,population%20%28322%20deaths%20per%20100%2C000%20adult%20U.S.%20residents%29.
Pittaro, M. (2022). Why did violent crime surge in 2021? Making sense of recent trends in U.S. crime rates. Reviewed on April 6, 2022.
Russo, J. (2019). Caring for those in custody: Identifying high-priority needs to reduce mortality in correctional facilities p 2. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR1967.html
Sullivan, K. (2020). Justice department announces $29 million to support justice and mental health programs. The United States department of justice news p 1. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-29-million-support-justice-and-mental-health-programs
World Health Organization. Violence—a global public health problem (chapter 1). Reviewed on 04/03/22. https://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/violence/world_report/en/chap1.pdf